Blast from the Past, Snarlin’ Arlen Dept. 0
Many years ago, I listened to KYW–I caught it on the skip–on my Christmas transistor radio–transitor radios were an amazing new invention–while lifting my Christmas gift Sears Ted Williams weights (which I still have) on my home-made weight bench as a 98-pound weakling 10th grader.
KYW had recently moved from Cleveland to Philadelphia and remade itself as the first all-news AM station the country.
(When it was in Cleveland, I also listened to it on the skip; my favorite show was the Harv Morgan Show, which I would listen to while under the covers so my parents wouldn’t catch me. I’m sure they knew and with the wisdom of good parents just let it go. RIP Harv Morgan.)
Back then, Arlen Specter was the up-and-coming young crusading district attorney of Philadelphia.
Since them, Arlen has been a Democrat, a Republican, and a Democrat again. But first and foremost he has been an Arlenocratican with one overriding cause: the full employment of Arlen Specter.
He is no longer young and he long ago stopped crusading.
If you enjoy it half as much as the rest of us do, you will be happy in your twilight years.
Good-bye and good night.
Whatever Sestak may be, he can’t possibly be more craven, more manipulative, more self-absorbed. If he’s even just a little bit better, he’s progress.
Aside:
I do not criticize Obama for endorsing Arlen. Arlen switched ranks and provided a vote when a vote was needed. Honorable politics–honorable life–ultimately boils down to personal relationships and honorable politicians honor their debts. That’s how the game is played.
As long as it’s above-board, it’s okay.
Idealistic purity is great in a vacuum. (Many of my leftie friends want to live in that idealistically pure vacuum land. I honor and mourn their idealism at the same time.)
It’s not how real life works, because real life is not lived in a vacuum.
Real life is not lived in a vacuum in your day-to-day dealings and it’s not lived in a vacuum in their day-to-day dealings.
Real life is goals and bargains and debts and trade-offs and concessions and two steps forward and one step back and sometimes one step forward and two steps back but by God keep trying to push in the right direction and that’s all you can do.
You get and give to get what you can and hope that the next time you can make a giant step instead of a baby step. And life goes on.
Live with it.
